The world's first solar plane hopes to make a stop over in India when it completes its first round-the-world tour three years from now. The plane would fly south of the Himalayas and hoped to make a stop over in India, if invited to do so, Mr Bertrand Piccard, President of the Solar Impulse project, told Business Line at the hangar of the Swiss firm's HB-SIA prototype. “We are looking for partners,” he said.
Solar Impulse, which unveiled the world's first plane powered by solar energy last year, will complete construction of a second updated plane in 2013 and take it on a three-day, three-night round-the-world journey the following year. “It will be more comfortable, more efficient than the first one,” said Mr Andre Borschberg, CEO and co-founder of the company.
Standing to a corner of Le Bourget to the north of Paris, the Solar Impulse aircraft has been billed as the star attraction of an airshow, eager to tout its green credentials amid the smell of jet fuel and roar of military aircrafts parading the skies.
Mr Piccard says he first came up with the idea of the plane following his first non-stop round-the- world trip in a balloon over ten years ago, disturbed by the vast amounts of fossil fuel it guzzled up. Work on the project began eight years ago following a feasibility study, and the first flight took place last year — it's also completed a night flight and a non-stop journey of over 26 hours.
Weighing 1,600 kg — similar to a small sports car — and with the power of a small scooter (four 10 HP electric engines), Solar Impulse's founders insist that its not using any new revolutionary technology to power the plane but simply what is out there readily available. “We are not trying to create an aviation revolution but a change in the mindset of the way people think about clean tech and how it can be used in society,” says Mr Borschberg. The plane itself is made of composite materials and over 11,000 silicon cells cover the wing.
However, the biggest challenge when it comes to the round-the-world tour at least will be integrating into the busy air traffic routes. The plane needs 3,000 feet of separation from other crafts — nearly three times what regular aircrafts need, which poses major challenges to air traffic control operations.